Pulset of the CITY

“Hello, hypocrite you’re^ on the air.”

Conservative radio host Mark Davis dumps ailing wife.



NATIONALLY SYNDI-cated radio talk-show host Mark Davis. 42. has filed for divorce from his wheelchair-bound wife. Kami. The divorce filing came five months after Mark informed Kathi, who has multiple sclerosis, that he wanted a “therapeutic separation.1’

Davis, who built ratings by repeatedly blasting Bill Clinton for infidelity, has been carrying on a high-profile relationship with 32-year-old Lisa Lee of Arlington. Davis has told colleagues that his relationship with Lisa Lee began after he moved out. Wife Kathi says she knows differently.

In a June feature story that extolled his and Kathi’s marnage, Davis told D Magazine, “I practice what I preach.” But friends say Mark seemed to go through a midlife crisis last year, He bought a Jaguar, lost weight, and started wearing a different hairstyle and clothes.

“I’m not going to have any kind of public comment on this very private matter,” Davis told D. But his relationship with Ms. Lee has been very public. They both rode in the grand parade of the Fort Worth Stock Show in January and later posed for photos wearing WBAP jackets. Callers to his daily talk show who want to inquire how he squares his public behavior with his public positions are not allowed to raise the mailer on the air.

■ STARWATCH

Making Eyes

Angie Harmon introduces new love to Dallas-and to Dad



BACK IN HER HOMETOWN TO raise money for the Dallas arts community, Law & Order’s Angie Harmon served as the 500 Inc.’s celebrity chairperson for “Gala for the Arts 2000.” Angie not only brought a script autographed by the hit show’s cast, but the new man in her life, New York Giants All-Pro comerbaek Jason Sehorn. Angie beamed when she spoke about Jason. “He’s a very nice guy,” she reported. The other man in her life, father Larry Harmon, attended the fete with Angie and Jason.

When she’s in town, the down-to-earth TV star said she likes “to relax and catch up with girlfriends and eat at Mi Cocina or Javier’s, or both….”

When asked if he would consider moving to Dallas to replace Deion Sanders, Jason smiled and replied that he was going into his seventh season with the Giants, and it looks like he’s there to stay.



Sharon Stone, Agent Provocateur

SHARON STONE RAISED A RECORD amount-nearly $1 million-as the celebrity auctioneer at the annual AIDS and Art Auction. The one-lime sexpot also raised hackles by repeatedly delaying the action to step off the stage to take cell phone calls. But that was a minor irritation compared to the ire she raised by appealing to her Dallas audience to vote against George W. The first time the audience only shifted uncomfortably in their seats. The second time, several loyalists look their cue ’ and walked out.

Building the Perfect Beast

Rocker Don Henley builds dream house in Bluff view



EAGLES LEGEND DON HENLEY

and his wife, former Dallas model Sharon Summerall. have the Bluffview neighborhood in a tizzy over their out-sized construction project. Henley has been throwing big bucks into the building-and rebuilding–of a new house on Briarwood. The hush-hush project has been in the works for five years. Why so long? Apparently, the couple, now ensconced on DeLoache, can’t make up their minds. According to neighbors the house has been nearly completed, torn down, and started again from scratch more than once; the current Bouquet Canyon stone building has undergone two changes in its roof. Meanwhile, the secret project has been under such tight security that contractors have been instructed to show up for work in trucks with no identification or phone numbers on their paneling.

Sources say Henley is happy with the latest exterior (and slate roof), and thai finish-out has begun on the 6,000-square-foot underground recording studio. The security system for the new residence is so state-of-the-art that, according to one source, it could “detect a mosquito in flight.” Two years ago, Henley purchased the 5.500-square-foot house next door-valued at $2.1 million-for his mother-in-law. He’s also been scouting other Bluffview Homes in the $2 million range to use as crash pads for his high-profile friends. Mirrors on the ceiling? Pink champagne on ice? Welcome to Hotel Dallas, Henley-style.

Brooklyn, NY potters create organic-shaped vases designed to enhance nature’s own flowers. Gifted. Gourd-shaped vases, $44. Simple and sleek vases (r) that can hold your photos as well as your flowers. Photo vases, $29.95.

The colors of

spring shine through these glass vases in funky geometric shapes. Legacy Trading Co.

(I) tall vases, $32;

(c) round vase,

$16; (r) slacked

vase, $12,

These hand-blown glass vases make a charming and decorative addition to any decor. Mark&Larry’s Stuff’. Jar vases. $19.95.

winners



■ Laura Miller’s old buddies at the Observer, dependable thumb suckers that they are, launched the “Miller for Mayor” campaign. Laura licked her finger, held it up, blew on it, and announced she felt a draf.



■ Wow! A new Texas Instruments digital whiz-bang will make DickTracy come true. But is this good? Do we want to be that connected?



losers

■ Raise your hand if you’re the one at JCPenney who announced that an “undisclosed” number of employees will be fired by “midyear.” Raise your other hand if you think this will spur self-same employées to improve sinking profits. Now that both hands are raised, surrende

■ Proving itself to be a symbol of its time until the very end, the original Keller Drive-In was demolished amid a swirl of accusations, lawsuits, and counter-suit.



■ Proving himself to be a symbol of our time, sleaze lawyer Larry Friedman filed a $150 billion class action suit against Yahoo! Broadcast for invasion of privacy. Like Willie Sutton, sleaze lawyers go where the money is.

■ Humans 2, Egrets 0. A Euless rookery was wiped out two years after the rookery in Carrollton. Maybe the egrets should get a lawyer?

QUOTABLES

“They’re ingenious… they can plan things you wouldn’t believe. But will they do homework? No….”



-W. T. White principal Joy Barnhart on students caught counterfeiting money via computer.

■ THE SMARTEST CITIES ON THE WEB



In the land rush that is the Internet, a lot of people took off in the wrong direction, i.e., all those folks who actually followed instructions and registered their sites as dot.gov or dot.org. Unfortunately for them, dot.com is the word that’s entered the popular lexicon. We checked on local cities to see how easy it is for people around the world to find them:



NAME WHO OWNS WHAT THEY DO

Metro Publishing Inc. lackluster city guida

fortworlh.com Convention and Visitors Bureau excellent visitors’ guide

Arlington Morning News excellent local news page

Piano Components used semiconductors

Richardson Associates San Francisco consultant

Mesquite Software Inc. simulation software

McKinney American Houston finance company

coppell com City of Coppell good city guide

Grapevine Technologies San Francisco software

Allen.Com Web marketing

Focus Systems Inc. Internet shopping mall

Bedford Associates Connecticut computer firm

Of the cities we surveyed, Fort Worth and Coppell get gold stars for thinking promotionally. Arlington and Duncanville were lucky: Their names at least have something to do with their towns. As far as we could tell, Garland, Carrollton, and Irving are still up for grabs.

STATS

4

Number of women who have reported to D Magazine that they, too, were engaged to the Internet Romeo.

67

Failing score of Juan’s Hacienda on Preston Road in the latest health inspections.

Source: City of Dallas Environmental & Health Service$850,000

Amount that former D Magazine intern Sara Mosle received from Alfred A. Knopf to write a nonfIction book about the 1937 accident that killed 300 children in New London,Texas.

Source: New York Observer$6,521

Cost per student in the Dallas public schools.

Source: DISD$5,790

Cost per student in the Highland Park public schools

Source: HPISDHEADLINE

OF THE MONTH

How to insert a bad pun into a mixed metaphor:

“Are O’Keeffes real McCoy or pigment of imagination?”-DMN, 2/20.

EBB3B

“You brought the man here; now let him do his job.”



-Ron Kirk on Bill Rojas to assembled Dallas school board members at the “Showtime Celebration of Diversity. “

STRATEGY

Since Mike Rawlings became its president three years ago, Dallas- based Pizza Hut has hit record revenues, with 8 straight quarters of same-store sales growth. In January D Magazine named Pizza Hut the “Best Company to Work for in Dallas.” At a recen D Magazine/ Arthur Andersen forum, Rawlings discussed the ’8 Leadership Principles that have revolutionized Pizza Hut’s culture:



1. Customer Focus.

We listen and respond to the voice of the customer.



2. Belief In People. We believe in people, trust in positive intentions, encourage ideas from everyone, and actively develop a workforce that is diverse in style and background.



3. Recognition. We find reasons to celebrate the achievements of others and have fun doing it.



4.Coaching and Support. We coach and support each other.



5. Accountability. We do what we say, we are accountable, we act like owners.



Excellence. We take pride in our work and have a passion for excellence.



Positive Energy. We execute with positive energy and intensity; we hate bureaucracy and all the nonsense that comes with it.



8. Teamwork. We prac tice team together, team apart.



Rawlings paraphrases Vince Lombardi: ’In today’s competitive job market, people aren’t just everything, they’re the only thing.”

TOP 5 PICNIC SPOTS



1. CELESTIAL PARK

(Celestial Rd.. Addison) Ponder the words of Khalil Gibran and other sages etched into the park’s stone steps.



2. DALLAS ARBORETUM

(Garland Rd., East Dallas) Beautiful flowers, manicured lawns, and the absence of any annoying park surprises (read: dog poop).



3. CONNEMARA

CONSERVACY (Tatum Dr., Allen) Art everywhere-from the hanging stones in the pecan grove to spheres constructed from sticks scattered throughout the park.



4. DAVIS PARK (Drexel Dr.. Highland Park) Big shady trees, moss-covered stone bridges, and lily pads floating in Hackberry CreeK.



5. LAKE CAROLYN

(0’ Connor Blvd., Las Colinas) The closest thing to San Antonio’s River Walk we’ve got in landlocked North Texas.



QUOTABLES

“One day I saw I was selling more $10,000 pieces in Dallas than in LA or New York.”



-Artist Bill Tortorici on why he moved his studio to Denison.